Dollar Bookstore Adventures

            Last Friday, my older sister and I went to our local dollar bookstore to meet up with Nicole, a childhood friend of ours who is expecting her first baby. My family had boxes of books to trade in, and we shared the store credit with Nicole, helping her find books to outfit her baby nursery. I had so much fun! My sister and I found some old favorites to share with her, and we found lots of cute books in the regular section, as well as in the back room where you could fill up a plastic bag for $10. We are expert book-packers and squeezed about forty books into that bag.

            In addition to getting baby nursery books for Nicole, my sister and I also spent some of the store credit on stuff for us. She was excited to find some like-new Shakespeare plays in the editions she wanted, and came home with a stack of Penguin classics. I came home with two American Girl books, two YA novels, a classic mystery, Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, two Peanuts collections, a Calvin and Hobbes collection, and some of the books that we had squeezed into the $10 bag. This included some paperback children's books on historical topics and a Peanuts coloring book. I have eclectic tastes.

            As we shopped, we came across some funny things, and I took pictures of them. Here are some of the goofy things that we found:

Quality marginalia in a Shakespeare play:

Why did they have this on their shelves, if they declined some of our books??

Who wants this in 2019?

This Beanie Baby was worth $1,750 in 2000. YA'LL. I love stuffed pandas, but think of everything else you could do with that much money!

There were TY Beanie Baby dolls? I had no idea. It looks creepy and terrifying.

I still have this fellow!

             I forgot to take pictures of the multiple Justin Bieber books that we found, but here are "HIGH interest books" and "Star Scene" publications about highly relevant performers! (Only, the Jonas Brothers came back, so I guess they are relevant again.)

             One of the paperback picture books in this bin contained a bookmark from somebody's Vegas-themed 2013 high school prom. HOW. WHY. Why would anyone choose that theme for a prom? Why would they set up a "Just Married" poster for kids to have pictures in front of? How did this bookmark end up in a picture book in a dollar bookstore? Life is full of mysteries.

My sister: "The Exodus, recast as The Great Escape!"

             Me: "Are you allowed to randomly hold a koala outside of the Sydney Opera House when you visit Australia?"

My sister: "Is this a mongoose celebrating a Mitzvah?"

             I have already colored seventeen pages in my Peanuts coloring book. A lot of you guys are not ready for Christmas and will be triggered by this, but look how cute these pages are! I would have brought this book home and started coloring in it even if it had been spring or summer.

             I had a lot of fun at the bookstore, and I'm glad that I got to spend time with my sister and our friend. We got to find new books, reminisce about old memories, and appreciate the joys of new life, and it was a great way to spend the morning.